What Does It Mean To Be Gay Essay

The history of the gay rights movement goes as far back as the late 19th century. More accurately, the quest by gays to search out others like themselves and foster a feeling of identity has been around since then. It is an innovative movement that seeks to change existing norms and gain acceptance within our culture. By 1915, one gay person said that the gay world was a "community, distinctly organized" (Milestones 1991), but kept mostly out of view because of social hostility. According to the Milestones article, after World War II, around 1940, many cities saw their first gay bars open as many homosexuals began to start a networking system. However, their newfound visibility only backfired on them, as

The word “gay” has gone through drastic changes. Traditionally, it was a positive term that meant to be “happily excited” or “jolly” (Merriam Webster, “Gay”). It was used regularly to express one’s feelings about life. Today, it has a far different meaning. Now people use the word gay to label homosexuals, those with feminine qualities, or those who do something thought to be outside of the norm for their gender. “Being gay” went from expressing someone’s happiness to describing his sexual preference. The definition of gay has changed so much that its original meaning has become archaic and lost to the times.

Within the last decade society has become more open to ideology and lifestyles that years ago were tabo. This is largely due to the fact that the millennial generation may be one of the most laid back and accepting generations of all time. One major lifestyle that was rarely expected was homosexuality within the last decade this issue is no longer in the closet. Most people feel comfortable being open about their lifestyle choice and even show it off. Shortly after the acceptance of gays by society a new issue presented itself and this is transgender people. The community as whole fights for their rights together and it is referred to as LGBTQ. LGBTQ means lesbians, gays, transgender, bisexual, and queer. The LGBTQ community has made great progress in the last decade they have become more open about their community and have gained rights that they should have always had. Even though the community has made progress they still have a long way way to go especially within the workplace.

In an interview recently I was asked to describe the best and the worst parts of being gay. This came as a quite unexpected question under the given circumstances: I hoped we were all past that.

The word gay has been a part of America's history since the 1800’s, throughout time, the word gay has transformed and reshaped itself from different meaning to different meaning and onto how we view the word today. When first learning and hearing of the word in my childhood, my friends and I asked our parents what the word meant and they usually gave a response along the lines of, “It’s means to be happy.” This is the only response we got because a lot of people are uncomfortable with the word gay and describing what it means, especially to their children. As a result, the neighborhood kids, myself included, simply thought the word gay meant to be happy and so we would go around trying our new word say, “Hi! I’m gay!” We were not wrong, but

     Growing up in a heterosexual world as a Lesbian who remained in many closets, has shape my identity and the way I will transact with people for the rest of my life. Upon coming out of closet, or being pushed out (by suspension from parents and friends) at the age of eighteen or nineteen I quickly assumed the bi-sexual title because it meant at least there was hope for me in the future. This proved to be worse for my self-esteem, and may have caused the most damage because even though I was free to come out, I was still afraid (somewhat) of taking the big leap and being totally ostracized by my friends and people I know. So I felt one million times worst trying to be

This essay will critically evaluate the statement that gay is innate, by firstly looking into the issue of what innateness is, before discussing it relationship with current research into homosexuality.

In a study conducted by Robert W. Mitchell and Alan L. Ellis, LGBT stereotyping was tested by introducing a college student to a male who has personally labeled himself as ‘gay’ or ‘adopted’ and comparing the resultant descriptions. (Mitchell and Ellis 80) Those who labeled themselves as ‘gay’ were more inclined to be stereotyped as ‘less masculine, and more feminine’ than those who labeled themselves as ‘adopted.’ (Mitchell and Ellis 81) It is a common misconception that if a man is homosexual he must therefore be ‘less masculine.’ Mitchell and Ellis also state: “Masculinity, an essential part of the male gender role, is a culturally valued attribute for men in the US.” (Mitchell and Ellis 81)

Has a more visible LGBT movement created feeling of isolation among the other alternate sexualities and minority groups that fall under the broad umbrella? Gayatri Gopalakrishnan, reporting from the UNHRC examines an issue that was left largely undiscussed by the members of the committee.

Gay. What does it mean to be gay? It means you are a homosexual, being sexually attracted to people of your own sex. Why should we legalize gay marriage? This is what I am here to talk about today. Why is this illegal? If Australia is such a free country, people of the same- sex should be able to marry. It is discriminative. It- is- discriminative. Why is there this expectation that the opposite sex are meant to marry.

LGBTQ criticism or Queer theory is very diverse and interpreted in different ways. Generally, it focuses on identity and gender and deconstructs society (politically, socially and economically through different lenses of not just gay or lesbians, but transgender and bisexuals too). Also what normativity is, who is excluded from it and how it portrays to different people. Queer theory is very complex, for there are not limitations and there is not a single perspective. This theory is relatively new and often misunderstood. It is very

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, fabulosity is defined as, “fabulous quality or character”, and to be fabulous, “of an incredible, astonishing, or exaggerated nature”. The term fabulosity has been trademarked by model and entrepreneur, Kimora Lee-Simmons, when she wrote a book titled under the popular term. According to her definition fabulosity is, “…a quality ascribed to that which expresses glamour, style, charisma, power, and heart”. So how does this word relate to the movement of queer theatre? In an article published by The Huffington Post, writer Simon Doonan says, “To be a gay man is to live a life of fearless flamboyance”. One can say that the association of being gay to being fabulous is explained by living a life with

It has long been debated where our sexual orientation comes from, particularly whether its biological or social forces driving these behaviors. In regards to homosexuality and bisexuals, some have argued that it may be a choice that these individuals are making.(Levay 2012: 41)Some have even said it is a mental disorder that one can recover from, but there is plenty of data that says otherwise.(Levay 2012: 41)(Levay 2012: 65) I believe diverse sexual orientations develop in humans due to sex hormones during fetal life, gene influences, and other effects such as birth order influences. I’ve come to this conclusion based on the narrative provided via Dr. Simon LeVay’s book Gay Straight, and the Reason Why, and the research that has been compiled showing strong influences from a multitude or reasons. I will also be looking at a research paper by Francesca Iemmola and Andrea Camperio Ciani, who looked into genetic factors influencing sexual orientation in men. It is clear there are gender differences between men and women, and this is probably one of the strongest indicators that hormones can affect the outcome of variations in gender traits.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, also known as LGBT population have experienced a great deal of oppression worldwide. These particular individuals undergo discrimination from society, whether for reasons of ignorance, fear or intolerance, this population faces challenges in multiple areas of social justice sexual. Although the LGBT culture has made some strides in the areas of state and federal legislation, there is still a wide range of criminalization that takes place within our culture. Understanding the LGBT community and the history of their oppression may be the first step in becoming culturally competent. For many years this culture was denied their basic constitutional rights that were afforded to their equal heterosexual peers. Basic rights such as, adoption and marriage were uncommon to this culture until the 20th century.

- So why won 't you admit that you 're gay? - I 'm not gay. Is that it? Listen, Nkosi 's gone. Let 's get out of here.